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Farmington City Council will discuss legislative priorities Tuesday

City looking at request for $19M to build bridge between Piñon Hills and County Road 3000

By Dan Schwartz The Daily Times

Updated:
01/07/2014 06:00:11 PM MST

Vehicles are seen traveling on Saturday at the intersection of East Main Street and Piñon Hills Boulevard in Farmington. The city of Farmington's No. 1-rated item on its infrastructure capital improvement plan is the Piñon Hills bridge and extension project. T (Jon Austria — The Daily Times)

FARMINGTON >> Farmington City Council will meet in a work session Tuesday to discuss the city's legislative priorities.

The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. in City Hall, located at 800 Municipal Drive, and councilors will give the city's lobbyist, Scott Scanland, direction for the 2014 New Mexico legislative session.

The city's No. 1-rated item on its infrastructure capital improvement plan is the Piñon Hills bridge and extension project. The city will request $19 million from the state legislature for the project, according to the document listing the city's potential capital projects for fiscal year 2015 to 2019.

The project's description states that the construction of a bridge would connect Piñon Hills Boulevard and County Road 3000, reducing traffic on Browning Parkway. The bridge would allow transportation to the "rapidly-growing" Crouch Mesa area, according to the document.

Administrative Services Director Andy Mason said the city has about 20 percent of the total funding, but he deferred specific questions about the project to the city's Public Works Department. Officials in that department could not be reached for comment on Friday.

The document lists the New Mexico Department of Transportation as a possible funding source.

San Juan County lists the project as the No. 4 priority on its infrastructure capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2015 to 2019. The county has no funding in place and is requesting $8.388 million for the project, according to the document.

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